Cuban News Agency

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“We regard this criminal action as a terrorist attack, not only against
this company, but also against the right of all American citizens to
travel to Cuba and, particularly, to share time with and to help their
families,” reads a statement signed by groups such as the Alianza
Martiana, the Antonio Maceo Brigade, the Jose Marti Association, the
Bolivarian Circle of Miami, and the Association of Christian Women in
Defense of the Family, among others.

“Terrorist actions like this one violate democracy,” adds the text, which
urges the U.S. government to lift all Cuba travel bans and calls on local
and federal authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation that
can lead to bringing a prosecution against the culprits.

“As long as terrorists walk the streets of Miami as free men, actions like
this one will continue to be perpetrated by them or by others who think
and act like them,” the statement warns.

After pointing out that neither congresspersons nor any other elected
public servants of the state of Florida have condemned the attack, the
document adds that it must be done as soon as possible because the
situation is “truly disgraceful.”

“I thought we had moved past the era of terrorist acts,” said Airline
Brokers owner Vivian Mannerud referring to the 1970s and 1980s, when Miami
was the scene of politically motivated arson attacks and car-bombings
targeting perceived Cuba government sympathizers and people doing business
with the Caribbean nation.

Mannerud, who has been active in several humanitarian campaigns in Cuba
and Haiti, played a major role in helping the Miami archdiocese organize
the trip by more than 300 pilgrims to Cuba to take part in Pope Benedict
XVI’s three-day visit last month.

Airline Brokers is one of a number of charter companies that fly to Cuba
from airports in Miami, as well as a growing number of other U.S. cities,
including Tampa, New York and Los Angeles, under special Treasury
Department licenses.

Mannerud said her company has seven flights a week from Miami and Fort
Lauderdale. Despite losing all the office computers, she said she planned
to continue taking bookings, adding that the company’s Cuba flight
schedule would not be affected.